Small Bowel Metastatic Melanoma: An Emblematic “Coal-Black” Appearance at Videocapsule Endoscopy

Abstract

A 80-year-old woman underwent vulvar melanoma resection and segmental lung resection for pulmonary metastasis. Immunotherapy with Nivolumab was performed. One year later, the patient was admitted for gastrointestinal (GI) recurrent bleeding and severe anemia. Esophagoastroduodenoscopy and colonoscopy did not show any abnormality, while videocapsule endoscopy (VCE) revealed an irregular and exophytic whitish area with a “coal-black” central depression. Small bowel resection was performed and histological examination revealed S100 protein strongly positive melanoma metastasis. The patient died six months later from disease progression. A “coal-black” appearance of intestinal metastatic melanoma has been described only twice before this report. In one case the patient had been treated by immunotherapy with interferon A and dendritic cell-based vaccination. In our patient, it is presumable that the picture we observed was a consequence of Nivolumab treatment inducing the disappearance of melanocytes in the area surrounding the metastasis with the onset of the central coal-black lesion encircled by whitish tissue. This picture should be emblematic of intestinal metastatic melanoma in subjects treated with immunotherapy showing occult/obscure bleeding.

Keywords

• small bowel
• capsule endoscopy
• melanoma